1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weight bearing brace for supporting a femur and hip joint when treating a patient having femur or hip joint disorder.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a patient has a dislocated, broken, inflamed, or necrotic femur or hip joint, the patient must be treated with the femur and hip joint bearing no weight. For this purpose, a prior art procedure measures the size of the patient along a leg involving the affected part, prepares a support according to the measurements, attaches the support to the leg, and puts a plaster cast around the hip and thigh area of the patient. After one or two months with the plaster cast, the patient gradually practices to walk on the sound leg with crutches.
FIG. 9 shows a brace E according to another prior art device. The brace E has a support R attached along a leg by winding belts B around a thigh, knee, and ankle, so that a sole is spaced away from the ground. The brace has a shoe S to cover the ankle and sole.
The former prior art device that applies a plaster cast around patient's hip and thigh involves intricate processes of measuring patient's lower body, forming a support according to the measurements, and applying the support and a plaster cast to the patient. The plaster cast is broken afterward to start rehabilitation. The plaster cast is not recyclable. With the plaster cast, the patient is unable to move his or her thigh nor walk. As a result, muscles under the plaster cast atrophy, and a long rehabilitation period is required to restore the atrophied muscles after removing the plaster cast. This results in delaying the patient from returning to work.
According to the latter prior art of FIG. 9, the brace E may allow the patient to walk with crutches. The patient, however, must walk with his or her thigh immobilized because a linear support R is fixed to the leg. This results in atrophying the muscles of the immobilized part, and requires a long rehabilitation period. The brace E with the support R, shoe S, and belts B around the thigh, knee, and ankle provides a bulky poor appearance. The brace E forces the patient to endure daily inconveniences. With such a large number of components, the brace E is not easy to apply to a patient and involves many processes and a long time to manufacture to thereby increasing costs.